Engineering Consultant Practice for Alberta Highway and Bridge Projects

When you deliver consulting services on a provincial highway or bridge project in Alberta, much of the risk sits outside the design calculations: who approves what, when a design exception needs a formal request, how your performance will be rated, and what the right-of-way and environmental processes demand before construction can start. This course explains how consultant work on these projects is expected to be organized and delivered.

You will cover general requirements such as professional registration and the professional seal, public safety and traffic accommodation through the work zone, Indigenous consultation, records management and freedom of information and privacy obligations. The course then turns to consultant and department responsibilities, the decision ladder, approval and acceptance, cost estimates and cost tracking, independent design checks, consultant performance evaluation and its appeal mechanism, project management requirements, design philosophy and design exceptions, and the use of ATVs, UAVs and provincial data sources such as collision, traffic volume, LiDAR and remotely sensed data. Later modules address planning study types, deliverables and tasks (traffic and collision analysis, access management, noise, drainage, geotechnical and environmental evaluation, public and Indigenous engagement), right-of-way requests, acquisition, legal survey and expropriation, environmental management and approvals, and roadway, surfacing and bridge engineering assessments through to preliminary engineering. It is well suited to consulting engineers and project managers working on, or bidding for, provincial transportation work.

What Will Be Covered:

• Professional registration, the professional seal and public safety in the work zone

• Indigenous consultation, records management and privacy obligations

• Consultant responsibilities, the decision ladder, approvals and cost estimates

• Independent design checks and consultant performance evaluation

• Design philosophy, design exceptions and contract design change proposals

• Use of ATVs and UAVs, permission to survey and provincial data sources

• Planning study types, deliverables, tasks and option evaluation

• Right-of-way requests, acquisition, legal survey and expropriation

• Environmental management, regulatory approvals, risk assessment and topsoil conservation

• Roadway, surfacing and bridge engineering assessments and preliminary engineering